"Facebook has apologised after labelling a passage from the Declaration of Independence hate speech and removing it from the site.

Texas-based newspaper The Liberty County Vindicator was posting passages from the declaration to celebrate July 4, the USA's day of independence, when the social media giant removed a post containing paragraphs 27 to 31 of the famed document.

The newspaper received a notification from Facebook informing them that the post "goes against our standards on hate speech".

Facebook were quick to realise the mistake, restoring the post and sending an apology to the Vindicator.

The newspaper shared Facebook's apology on the site, which read: 'It looks like we made a mistake and removed something you posted on Facebook that didn’t go against our community standards.'..."

'We want to apologise and let you know that we’ve restored your content and removed any blocks on your account related to this incorrect action.'